Apparatus for manipulating workpieces



1965 E. L. MATTSON 3,224,602

APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING WORKPIECES Original Filed March 21, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet l United States Patent Ofiice 3,224,602 Patented Dec. 21,1965 3,224,602 AlPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING WORKPIECES Everett L. Mattson,Brookfield, Wis., assignor to Automatic Welding Company, Waulkesha, Wis,21 corporation of Wisconsin Original application Mar. 21, 1961, Ser. No.97,378, now Patent No. 3,109,918, dated Nov. 5, 1963. Divided and thisapplication June 6, 1963, Ser. No. 286,045

8 Claims. (Cl. 214-1) The present invention relates to apparatus formanipulating workpieces which as herein disclosed is utilized inconjunction with an automatic welding machine and more particularly animproved machine for resurfacing the rollers and idlers of a trackvehicle by depositing beads of weld metal thereon. This application is adivision of copending application Serial No. 97,378, filed March 21,1961, now Patent No. 3,109.918.

The present invention may be used to deliver workpieces to and from ayoke mounted chuck arrangement. For example, one roller at a time may begripped, locked, welded on the surfaces normally flat with respect tothe welding head, and the entire yoke pivoted through an arc toorientthe flanges relatively level with respect to the Welding head. The yokemay be locked in any position desired. Therefore, the chuck willposition and manipulate rollers such that the flanges as Well as theother worn areas of the rollers may be rebuilt. The mechanism foroperating the chucks to grip and release the roller, as well as themechanism for driving the roller during the welding operation, may bedisposed within the yoke so that the yoke is counterbalanced and may beeasily manually pivoted between the various positions into which itmight be desirable to move the yoke.

It is :an object of the present invention to provide a machine of thecharacter above described wherein a workpiece supply is providedadjacent to the yoke. The workpiece supply may comprise a rotaryworkpiece carrier. The rotary workpiece carrier may be in the form of atable mounted for rotation about :a vertical axis and comprising asurface upon which workpieces are adapted to rest. When the carriertakes that form it may be made adjustable in the vertical direction sothat rollers of varying diameters may be accommodated. The machine maybe provided with a swingable transfer member in the form of an arrmmovable between the table and the yoke for transferring rollers back andforth between the table and the yoke.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a machine ofthe character described above wherein the arm is pivotally connected tothe yoke and is adjustable axially along the shaft upon which it ispivotally connected to the yoke so that the swingable arm mayaccommodate rollers of varying size also.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a machineof the character above described wherein the swingable arm is providedwith a carriage movably mounted thereon for movement along the arm sothat when a roller is placed upon the carriage and the pneumatic chuckis operated, the roller may automatically be moved to the desiredposition beneath the Welding apparatus since the carriage will rollalong the arm under the pressure exerted by the chucking mechanism.

Further objects of the invention involve the provision of an ejectionmechanism on the arm carriage so that rollers may be ejected while stillhot from welding without being directly handled; and provision of acombination catch clamp and handle arrangement which operates betweenthe yoke and the end of the swingable arm remote from the end pivotallycoupled with the yoke whereby the handle arrangement on the swingablearm may be engaged with the spring catch to hold the arm in place duringthe welding operation and may also be used to swing the swingable arm.

Various other objects and advantages will become apparent as thedescription of this invention proceeds and various modifications andchanges may be made to the structure hereinafter described withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention and such modifications andchanges and additional objects are intended to be covered by the scopeof the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a machine embodying the presentinvention;

FIGURE 2 is :a top plan view of the yoke arrangement shown in FIGURE 1,with portions of the yoke being broken away to show details of thepneumatic chucking mechanism;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of the yoke shown in FIGURE 2 withportions being broken away to show details of construction;

FIGURE 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a top plan view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 6 is a front elevational view of a rotatable table used in thepresent invention with portions being broken away to show details ofconstruction.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGURE 1 of thedrawings, a roller resurfacing machine is shown and identified generallyby the numeral 10. Roller resurfacing machine it is comprised of anumber of component parts including a base 12 having a front portion 14which serves as a flux catching tub and which is shown in FIGURE 1 ascontaining flux denoted by numeral 16. An upright member 18 is coupledat one extremity to the rear portion 20 of base 12 and extends upwardlytherefrom. A cross member 22 is mounted adjacent to the upper extremityof upright member 18. A vertically and horizontally adjustable weldingmeans identified generally by the numeral 24 is mounted upon crossmember 22. There is a yoke generally identified by the numeral 26pivotally mounted to upright member 18 intermediate the front portion 14of base 12 and the welding means 24 for a reason which will hereafterbecome obvious.

A vertically adjustable rotatable table 28 is disposed adjacent to yoke26 and a swingable arm or transfer member 30 is pivotally coupled withyoke 26 for swing ng movement from a position immediately adjacent totable 28 to a position directly beneath yoke 26.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, it will be noted that yoke 26 is generallyU-shape-d in cross section, and therefore comprises essentially a firstleg or mounting member 32, a second leg or mounting member 34, and abight 36 interconnecting legs 32 and 34. It will be noted that yoke 26is pivotally connected to upright member 18 by virtue of a pivot shaft38. Essentially the structure of leg 34 is the same as the structure ofthe corresponding leg in Patent No. 3,024,349, and need not be furtherdescribed herein except to state that there is a chuck driving unitcontained Within leg 34; and the structure which shows in the drawingsincludes a workpiece engaging element in the form of a drive conefixedly mounted upon a rotatable driven shaft 42. On the opposite sideof leg 34 from drive cone 40, there is shown a concentric quill shaft44- having a plurality of apertures 46. A cotter key 48 is rovided whichmay be dropped through sim lar apertures of shaft 42 and throughapertures 46 of shaft M as they register in any selected position tocouple the shafts 42 and 44 together and provide the drive mechanismoperation described in Patent No. 3,024,349.

A locking bar and plate structure generally identified by the numeral 50is provided which is similar in most respects to the locking bar andplate structure taught in Patent No. 3,024,349. The only change is thata rotatable shaft 52 is shown which is journaled at its extremities inthe fore and aft walls 51 and 53 respectively of first leg 32. The endof shaft 52 which is journaled in the fore wall 51 of first leg 32protrudes forwardly through wall 51 and terminates in fixed engagementwith a collar 54 provided with an operating handle 56. Shaft 52terminates at its opposite extremity in the shoulder portion 58 of abifurcated member 60 which partially surrounds bar 62 of mechanism 50whereby the mechanism 50 may be operated in a manner similar to thatdescribed in Patent No. 3,024,349 but more conveniently, since theoperator can work mechanism 50 through the linkage arrangement describedby operating handle 56 thereby rendering it unnecessary for the operatorto walk around to the rear part of yoke 26 every time it is desired tounlock the yoke 26 and change its position.

A pneumatic chuck operating arrangement is provided within leg 32 andincludes an axially slidable, freely rotatable axle 64 journaled in theside walls 55 and 57 respectively of leg 32 and provided with a rackportion 66. The extremity of axle 64 which is in closest proximity todrive cone 40 is provided with a cooperating workpiece engaging elementin the form of an idler cone 68 rotatably mounted thereon. A freelyrotatable shaft 76 is journaled in top and bottom walls 59 and 61respectively of the first leg 32. A gear 72 and a pinion 74 are fixed onshaft 70. Pinion 74 is in mesh with rack portion 66 of axle 64.

A piston housing '76, having an opening 78 in one end, is mounted withinfirst leg 32 in a fixed position. A piston head 80 is disposed withinhousing 76 for movement in an axial direction therewithin and a pistonrod 82 extends from one face of piston head 80 outwardly through the endof housing 76 opposite from the end having opening 78. A spring mountingpost 84 is mounted to the interior face of side wall 55 of first leg 32and one end of a spring 86 is engaged therewith. The opposite end ofspring 86 is coupled to one end of a chain 88 which is trained aroundgear 72 and terminates at the end remote from spring 86 in a connectionwith the end of piston rod 82 remote from piston head 80.

A first air conduit 88 is shown in FIGURE 2 of the drawings and isconnected at its end remote from yoke 26 with a source of air underpressure (not shown). The opposite end of a conduit 88 is coupled to atwo-way air valve 90 mounted on the front of leg 32. A second airconduit 92 is connected to air valve 90 at one end, and to the end ofhousing 76 remote from opening 78 at the other end. It will be notedthat air valve 90 is provided with an operating handle 94 which isdisposed near operating handle 56 so that the two controls may beconveniently operated. It should be further understood that valve 90 isof a well known kind having a first position inter-connecting conduits88 and 92, and a second position closing off conduit 88 and ventingconduit 92 to atmosphere, the former being the position in which it isshown in FIG- URE 2 of the drawings. A first accordion type dust shield96 covers bearing 63 for axle 64 in wall 55 of leg 32 as viewed inFIGURE 2 and a second accordion type dust shield 98 covers bearing 65for axle 64 in wall 57 of leg 32 as viewed in FIGURE 2. It is to befurther noted in FIGURE 2 that a roller 100 is shown gripped betweencones 40 and 68 for purposes of illustrating the manner in which thecone supports such a roller in position to be welded.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 6 of the drawings, table 28 isshown to include a plurality of table legs 102 provided with feet 104 tosupport same above floor 106. Extending upwardly from legs 102 is agenerally cylindrical housing 108. Contained within housing 108 is ahydraulic jack 110 having a jack shaft 112 which may be raised out of orlowered within jack when the latter is operated by pumping a jack handle(not shown) as is well known. The uppermost extremity of shaft 112supports a ball 114. Extending downwardly through the uppermostextremity of housing 108 is a table support shaft 116 which is providedwith a socket in its lower extremity for receiving ball 114. Housing 108is provided with a cylindrical housing support 118 having a centralopening through which shaft 116 extends and a bearing 120 lines thisopening and supports shaft 116. A similar type of bearing 122 isprovided lining the opening in the upper extremity of housing 108 andalso supports shaft 116. The uppermost extremity of shaft 116 isconnected to a generally circular table top 124. It will be obvious fromthe description that shaft 116 supported as it is within bearings 120and 122 and on top of ball 114 may be moved axially and rotated eitherseparately or at the same time.

Swingable arm 30 is mounted upon a fixed axle 126 depending from leg 32.Swingable arm 30 is provided at one end with a bearing portion 128 whichis rotatably mounted upon axle 126 as well as being axially slidablethereon. An adjustable collar 130 is secured to axle 126 below bearingportion 128 and is adjustable axially on axle 126 so that the arm 30 maybe vertically adjusted to set the arc of swinging movement of the arm 30in a particular horizontal plane. The adjusting means on collar 130 maybe anything suitable such as a set screw. The end of arm 30 remote frombearing portion 128 is provided with a handle mounting bearing 132 inwhich is journaled handle 134. A handle receiving element 136 dependsfrom leg 34 and may be in the form of a hook or spring clamp or the likeand is positioned to receive handle 134 and releasably hold the latteruntil it is forcibly disengaged therefrom.

A movable carriage 138 is mounted on arm 30 intermediate bearing portion128 and handle 134 and is movable longitudinally along central portion140 of arm 30. Carriage 138 includes a tray portion having a bottom 142and side walls 148, 150, 152 and 154. Adjacent the points of juncturebetween respective side walls 148 and 150 and respective end walls 152and 154, there is fastened to side walls 148 and 150, legs 144, 146, 156and 158. Each of the legs 144, 146, 156 and 158 is generally L-shapedand the legs disposed opposite each other are fastened to sides 148 and150 in such a manner that the foot of the members extends underneathcentral portion 140 of arm 30 to guide the carriage 138 as it travelstherealong and pre vent the same from falling 011. In addition, each ofthe legs 144, 146, 156 and 158 has mounted thereon a roller 160 whichrests upon the central portion 140 of arm 30 such that four rollers 160rollably support movable carriage 138 and render the same movable aspreviously described. A generally U-shaped bracket 162 is fixed to thecenter of the upwardly facing surface of bottom 142 across the bightportion of the bracket and the legs extend upwardly from bottom 142 andare provided with openings for journaling a pivot pin 164. Pivot pin 164is rotatably journaled in the openings of the legs of bracket 162 and acollar 166 is fixed thereon from which extends an ejecting handle 168.

In operation, when the machine shown in the drawings is to be used, aplurality of rollers 100 are placed upon table top 124 and swingable arm30 is pivoted in a clockwise direction to a position approximatelytangent to the outer peripheral surface of table top 124. If thecarriage 138 is higher than the table a sutficient amount to causedifiiculty, adjustable collar 130 may be used to lower swingable arm 30and thereby carriage 138 or jack 110 may be operated to raise table top124. A roller 100 is rolled onto carriage 138 in the tray formed bywalls 148, 150, 152 and 154 and bottom 142. The swingable arm 30 is thenpivoted in a counterclockwise direction by the use of handle 134 andswung into a position wherein carriage 138 is disposed intermediate legs32 and 34.

Operating handle 94 is then operated to move to the position shown inFIGURE 2 of the drawings by throwing the same through an arc in acounterclockwise direction. When handle 94 reaches the position shown inFIGURE 2, air conduits 83 and 92 are connected and air under pressureflows to one side of piston head 80 forcing the same to move towardopening 78. Air leaks out through opening 73 permitting movement ofpiston head 80 without resistance.

The movement of piston head 80 pulls chain 37 to rotate gear 72 andthrough shaft 70, pinion 74 which is engaged with rack portion 66 ofaxle 64 thereby sliding axle 64 in an axial direction toward roller 100.If the roller 1% is not properly positioned to be gripped between thecones 40 and 68, the air under pressure will force the cone 68 into theopening provided in roller 100 and push the same toward cone 40 untilroller 100 is wedged between the two cones and gripped tightly, and thesame is actually at the same time picked up from carriage 138. Thewelding operation may then be performed upon the roller 100 in the samemanner as described in Patent No. 3,024,349.

The driving mechanism contained within leg 34 performs the function ofrotating the roller 100 in the same manner described in Patent No.3,024,349. It should be noted at this point, however, that the structurewhich, in its assembled condition, forms the pneumatic or hydraulicchucking mechanism is of such a weight and disposition that it balancesthe structure contained within leg 34 and thereby counterbalances yoke26. The balance thereby created permits the yoke to be easily indexedmanually. The present invention provides an operating handle 56 whichcan manipulate locking bar and plate mechanism 50 from the front of yoke26 adjacent to operating handle 94 thereby contributing to the ease ofoperating the machine by eliminating traveling around to the rear ofyoke 26 as previously required to operate the locking bar and platemechanism 50.

After the roller has been resurfaced as desired, the operating handle 94may be thrown in the opposite direction venting conduit 92 to atmosphereand closing conduit 88 thereby permitting spring 86 to draw chain 87 inthe opposite direction reversing gear 72 and pinion 74 which is in meshwith rack portion 66 of axle 64 thereby withdrawing cone 68 from roller100 and permitting the latter to settle back into carriage 138. Duringthis time, handle 134 has been securely held by handle receiving element136 which may either be of the hook type as shown in FIGURE 3 of thedrawings or of a spring clamp type such as is well known.

Now the handle 134 is manually pulled or released from element 136 andthe arm 30 is once again pivoted in a clockwise direction to a positionapproximately tangent to table top 124. Ejecting handle 168 is thenmanually pushed toward table top 124 lifting and rolling the roller 100back onto the table top 124 and ejecting it from the carriage 138. Thismechanism enables the operator to remove rollers even while the same arestill very hot and during the period wherein previously the rollerscould not be handled thereby delaying the welding procedure. It is asimple matter then to rotate table top 124 slightly, roll the nextroller upon the carriage and repeat the cycle.

As can be seen, the machine of the present invention presents a veryadvantageous operation since the welding operation on a plurality ofrollers can be accomplished in the shortest possible time with themechanism described. The structure described reduces the amount ofmanual raising and lowering of the rollers which was required byprevious machines. It will also be noted that the provision of a movablecarriage 138 supported on rollers 160, permits the operator to positionthe roller 100 between the legs 32 and 34 of yoke 26, and the carriage138 will give the force exerted by axle 64 and cone 68, wherebypositioning the roller 100 as desired beneath the welding means 24.

Naturally two welding means 24 could be accommodated on the same crossmember 22 which would permit both sides of roller 1% to be resurfaced atthe same time further reducing the total time consumed by theresurfacing operation. It should be further noted that the hydraulicjack on the table 28 permits table top 124 to be raised or lowered inaddition to the adjustment for arm 36 such that objects of greatvariance in diameter may be accommodated and resurfaced such as theidlers of a track vehicle or other similar parts.

While I have shown and described a present preferred embodiment of theinvention it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is notlimited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied within the scopeof the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for manipulating workpieces comprising mounting means, ayoke, the yoke being mounted on the mounting means at the centralportion of the yoke and being disposed in a generally horizontal plane,a workpiece supply, a transfer member mounted for swingable movementbetween a position adjacent the workpiece supply and a position in whicha workpiece carried by the transfer member is disposed between the legsof the yoke, opposed workpiece engaging elements carried by the legs ofthe yoke and means for relatively moving the opposed workpiece engagingelements toward and away from each other to take the workpiece from thetransfer member and return the same thereto.

2. Apparatus for manipulating workpieces comprising opposed mountingmembers, a rotary workpiece carrier, a transfer member mounted forswingable movement in a single horizontal plane only between a positionadjacent the rotary workpiece carrier and a position in which aworkpiece carried by the transfer member is disposed between the opposedmounting members, means for rotating the rotary workpiece carrier toposition a workpiece adjacent the transfer member to facilitate transferof the workpiece from the rotary workpiece carrier to the transfermember, opposed workpiece engaging elements carried by the opposedmounting members and means for relatively moving the opposed workpieceengaging elements toward and away from each other to take the workpiecefrom the transfer member and return the same thereto.

3. Apparatus for manipulating workpieces comprising opposed mountingmembers spaced apart in the same horizontal plane, a workpiece supply, atransfer member mounted upon one of the opposed mounting members forswingable movement between a position adjacent the workpiece supply anda position in which a workpiece carried by the transfer member isdisposed between the opposed mounting members, opposed workpieceengaging elements carried by the opposed mounting members and means forrelatively moving the opposed workpiece engaging elements toward andaway from each other to take the workpiece from the transfer member andreturn the same thereto.

4. Apparatus for manipulating workpieces comprising opposed mountingmembers, a workpiece supply a transfer member mounted for swingablemovement between a position adjacent the workpiece supply and a positionin which a workpiece carried by the transfer member is disposed betweenthe opposed mounting members, latching means for fastening the transfermember in said last mentioned position, opposed workpiece engagingelements carried by the opposed mounting members and means forrelatively moving the opposed workpiece engaging elements toward andaway from each other to take the workpiece from the transfer member andreturn the same thereto.

5. Apparatus for manipulating workpieces comprising opposed mountingmembers, a workpiece supply, a transfer member having a carriage mountedthereon, the transfer member being mounted for swingable movementbetween a position in which the carriage is adjacent the workpiecesupply and a position in which a workpiece carried by the carriage isdisposed between the opposed mounting members, opposed workpieceengaging elements carried by the opposed mounting members and means forrelatively moving the opposed workpiece engaging elements toward andaway from each other to take the workpiece from the carriage and returnthe same thereto, the carriage being movable along the transfer memberto insure proper positioning of the workpiece to enable the workpiece tobe taken by the opposed workpiece engaging elements upon movement ofsuch elements toward each other and to receive the workpiece uponmovement of such elements away from each other.

6. Apparatus for manipulating workpieces comprising opposed mountingmembers, a rotary workpiece carrier, a transfer member having a carriagemounted thereon, the transfer member being mounted for swingablemovement between a position in which the carriage is adjacent the rotaryworkpiece carrier and a position in which a workpiece carried by thecarriage is disposed between the opposed mounting members, means forrotating the rotary workpiece carrier to position a workpiece adjacentthe carriage to facilitate transfer of the workpiece from the rotaryworkpiece carrier to the carriage, opposed workpiece engaging elementscarried by the opposed mounting members and means for relatively movingthe opposed workpiece engaging elements toward and away from each otherto take the workpiece from the carriage and return the same thereto, thecarriage being movable along the transfer member to insure properpositioning of the workpiece to enable the workpiece to be taken by theopposed workpiece engaging elements upon movement of such elementstoward each other and to receive the workpiece upon movement of suchelements away from each other.

7. Apparatus for manipulating workpieces comprising opposed mountingmembers, a workpiece carrier mounted for rotation about a vertical axisand comprising a surface upon which workpieces are adapted to rest, atransfer member having a carriage mounted thereon, the transfer memberbeing mounted for swingable movement between a position in which thecarriage is adjacent the rotary workpiece carrier and a position inwhich a workpiece carried by the carriage is disposed between theopposed mounting members, means for rotating the rotary workpiececarrier to position a workpiece adjacent the carriage to facilitatetransfer of the workpiece from the rotary workpiece carrier to thecarriage, opposed workpiece engaging elements carried by the opposedmounting members and means for relatively moving the opposed workpieceengaging elements toward and away from each other to take the workpiecefrom the carriage and return the same thereto, the carriage beingmovable along the transfer member to insure proper positioning of theworkpiece to enable the workpiece to be taken by the opposed workpieceengaging elements upon movement of such elements toward each other andto receive the workpiece upon movement of such elements away from eachother.

8. Apparatus for manipulating workpieces in relation to weldingmechanism wherein the workpieces become hot comprising opposed mountingmembers, a workpiece supply, a transfer member mounted for swingablemovement between a position adjacent the workpiece supply and a positionin which a workpiece carried by the transfer member is disposed betweenthe opposed mounting members, opposed workpiece engaging elementscarried by the opposed mounting members, means for relatively moving theopposed workpiece engaging elements toward and away from each other totake the workpiece from the transfer member and, after welding while theworkpiece is held by the opposed workpiece engaging elements, return thehot workpiece to the transfer member and an ejector for ejecting the hotworkpiece from the transfer member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 240,985 5/1881Fellows 82-2.5 X 1,811,832 6/1931 Mayers. 2,040,028 5/ 1936 Smith 822.53,008,382 11/1961 Hawley. 3,024,349 3/ 1962 Hinrichsen 219--73 3,046,8467/1962 Bonnafe.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,075,923 2/ 1960 Germany.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR MANIPULATING WORKPIECES COMPRISING MOUNTING MEANS,YOKE, THE YOKE BEING MOUNTED ON THE MOUNTING MEANS AT THE CENTRALPORTION OF THE YOKE AND BEING DISPOSED IN A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL PLANE,A WORKPIECE SUPPLY, A TRANSFER MEMBER MOUNTED FOR SWINGABLE MOVEMENTBETWEEN A POSITION ADJACENT THE WORKPIECE SUPPLY AND A POSITION IN WHICHA WORKPIECE CARRIED BY THE TRANSFER MEMBER IS DISPOSED BETWEEN THE LEGSOF THE YOKE,